East Cork Pipelines
Introduction
The East Cork Pipelines project consists of four geographically grouped projects in the east of Cork harbour between Midleton and Whitegate.
1. Gas to Aghada CCGT – This project supplies natural gas to a new ESB Combined Cycle Gas Turbine CCGT power plant located in Aghada. 12km of 450mm Pipeline, from Midleton Compressor Station to Aghada, including new offtake arrangement at Midleton Compressor Station and an AGI at Aghada CCGT.
2. Gas to Whitegate CCGT – This project supplies natural gas to a new Bord Gáis Combined Cycle Gas Turbine CCGT power plant located in Whitegate. 4.7km of 450mm Pipeline from the Gas to Aghada CCGT pipeline to Whitegate, including and offtake AGI at Upper Aghada and a new AGI at Whitegate CCGT
3. Midleton to Lochcarrig Lodge Pipeline – The aim of this project was to reinforce the supply of natural gas to Cork city. 1.1km of 450mm Pipeline from the Midleton Compressor Station to Lochcarrig Lodge AGI, including AGI works at Midleton and Lochcarrig Lodge to facilitate tie-ins.
4. Gas to Conoco Philips Whitegate – This project supplies natural gas to the Conoco Philips plant in Whitegate. It includes a Pressure Reduction Unit at Whitegate CCGT AGI. Six archaeology sites in total were discovered during pre-construction works and topsoil stripping. The majority of the sites were 'fulact fiadhs', which are ancient sites where rocks heated in fires were used to heat water. They are a common find on pipeline projects.
Construction Programme
The construction contract was awarded to Murphy International Limited and work commenced in March 2008. The majority of the work was completed in 2008 with the pipe line mechanically complete by October of that year. However, as is common with cross country pipelines a small amount of reinstatement work was necessary in 2009.
As well as construction of the pipeline the project involved the construction of 3 new Above Ground Installations (AGIs) and the modification of two existing AGIs. Construction of AGIs can be broken into two stages, civil and mechanical. Civil works involve construction of roadways, concrete bases and supports for pipework. Mechanical works consist of the installing the pipework required by the AGI. Large amounts of the pipework can be prefabricated offsite.
View photos of the construction programme by clicking on the thumbnail images below:
| Image | Description | Size |
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Pipe spreading | 120kb |
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Pipe in trench | 120kb |
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Pipe spread across countryside | 120kb |